Dreams are powerful things and Cheryl has very vivid dreams. So striking in fact, that they start to manifest into reality. Her husband believes none of what she tells him and as she works on her latest book, she starts to have dreams and visions that are terribly real and consist of an ogre who is out to terrorize her, if not kill her. When it starts to go after her child, that is when she must face it before the worst can happen.

Made for television and directed by Lamberto Bava, The Ogre, also sometimes known as Demons III: The Ogre, is a film about the scars that childhood leaves behind and Cheryl as played by Virginia Bryant has found that her childhood has come back to haunt her. As it is, this movie has nothing to do with the previous two Demons films aside from its later branding and that it features a monster within, the name is obviously a cash grab so that people would be suckered into buying or renting it. That being said, it can stand on its own though it is set at a very measured pace, not being as fast-moving as some might like. There is also a very ethereal atmosphere about it all which fits perfectly with the material, what with it being about dreams and such. It all seems like a bad nightmare at times, like that of a child – which Cheryl was at some point, but as she writes her book, those dreams and the action of the ogre get a little more advanced in years so to speak.

Being a horror movie and being on television, one can only show so much and Bava’s usual flair for that which is frightening is not really on full display. What is here though, is effective though it might have been better to see less of the creature so that the audience might use their own imaginations to dream up just what it might look like. The practical effects were decent and the ogre was intimidating, but having it off-camera may have worked just a bit better in this instance. As for the rest of it, the relationship between husband and wife is silly, to say the least, one cannot tell if they truly love each other or if the husband simply tolerates his wife. There are some instances where one has to wonder why she tolerates him and as far as all of this goes, it is perhaps the only instance where the film seems a little inconsistent.

While it might not be as scary as some might like, especially given its director, and it seems more fairytale than anything else, The Ogre is quite enjoyable if one can get in the frame of mind for it. There is a lot to like here despite any fault that can be found and it ends strongly with Cheryl finally coming to grips with her childhood and her dreams while her family becomes stronger than ever. Nothing wrong with that.

3 out of 5